72 research outputs found
Evidence of a large scale positive rotation-metallicity correlation in the Galactic thick disk
This study is based on high quality astrometric and spectroscopic data from
the most recent releases by Gaia and APOGEE. We select thin and thick
disk red giants, in the Galactocentric (cylindrical) distance range ~kpc and within ~kpc, for which full chemo-kinematical information
is available. Radial chemical gradients, , and rotational velocity-metallicity correlations, , are re-derived firmly uncovering that the thick disk
velocity-metallicity correlation maintains its positiveness over the ~kpc
range explored. This observational result is important as it sets experimental
constraints on recent theoretical studies on the formation and evolution of the
Milky Way disk and on cosmological models of Galaxy formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
The Gaia Data Release 1 parallaxes and the distance scale of Galactic planetary nebulae
In this paper we gauge the potentiality of Gaia in the distance scale
calibration of planetary nebulae (PNe) by assessing the impact of DR1
parallaxes of central stars of Galactic PNe (CSPNe) against known physical
relations. For selected PNe targets with state-of-the-art data on angular sizes
and fluxes, we derive the distance-dependent parameters of the classical
distance scales, i.e., physical radii and ionized masses, from DR1 parallaxes;
we propagate the uncertainties in the estimated quantities and evaluate their
statistical properties in the presence of large relative parallax errors; we
populate the statistical distance scale diagrams with this sample and discuss
its significance in light of existing data and current calibrations.
We glean from DR1 parallaxes 8 CSPNe with S/N1. We show that this set of
potential calibrators doubles the number of extant trigonometric parallaxes
(from HST and ground-based), and increases by two orders of magnitude the
domain of physical parameters probed previously. We then use the combined
sample of suitable trigonometric parallaxes to fit the
physical-radius-to-surface-brightness relation. This distance scale
calibration, although preliminary, appears solid on statistical grounds, and
suggestive of new PNe physics.
With the tenfold improvement in PNe number statistics and astrometric
accuracy expected from future Gaia releases the new distance scale, already
very intriguing, will be definitively constrained.Comment: New Astronomy, in pres
A test of Gaia Data Release 1 parallaxes: implications for the local distance scale
We present a comparison of Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) parallaxes with
photometric parallaxes for a sample of 212 Galactic Cepheids at a median
distance of 2~kpc, and explore their implications on the distance scale and the
local value of the Hubble constant H_0. The Cepheid distances are estimated
from a recent calibration of the near-infrared Period-Luminosity P-L relation.
The comparison is carried out in parallax space, where the DR1 parallax errors,
with a median value of half the median parallax, are expected to be
well-behaved. With the exception of one outlier, the DR1 parallaxes are in
remarkably good global agreement with the predictions, and the published errors
may be conservatively overestimated by about 20%. The parallaxes of 9 Cepheids
brighter than G = 6 may be systematically underestimated, trigonometric
parallaxes measured with the HST FGS for three of these objects confirm this
trend. If interpreted as an independent calibration of the Cepheid luminosities
and assumed to be otherwise free of systematic uncertainties, DR1 parallaxes
would imply a decrease of 0.3% in the current estimate of the local Hubble
constant, well within their statistical uncertainty, and corresponding to a
value 2.5 sigma (3.5 sigma if the errors are scaled) higher than the value
inferred from Planck CMB data used in conjunction with Lambda-CDM. We also test
for a zeropoint error in Gaia parallaxes and find none to a precision of ~20
muas. We caution however that with this early release, the complete systematic
properties of the measurements may not be fully understood at the statistical
level of the Cepheid sample mean, a level an order of magnitude below the
individual uncertainties. The early results from DR1 demonstrate again the
enormous impact that the full mission will likely have on fundamental questions
in astrophysics and cosmology.Comment: A&A, submitted, 6 pages, 3 figure
Evidence for orbital motion of CW Leonis from ground-based astrometry
© 2017 The Authors.Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations indicate that CW Leo, the closest carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch star to Sun, might have a low-mass stellar companion. We present archival ground-based astrometric measurements of CW Leo obtained within the context of the Torino Parallax Program and with > 6 yr (1995-2001) of time baseline. The residuals to a single-star solution show significant curvature, and they are strongly correlatedwith thewell-known I-band photometric variations due to stellar pulsations. We describe successfully the astrometry of CW Leo with a variability-induced motion (VIM) + acceleration model. We obtain proper motion and parallax of the centre-of-mass of the binary, the former in fair agreement with recent estimates, the latter at the near end of the range of inferred distances based on indirect methods. The VIM + acceleration model results allow us to derive a companion mass in agreement with that inferred by ALMA, they point towards a somewhat longer period than implied by ALMA, but are not compatible with much longer period estimates. These data will constitute a fundamental contribution towards the full understanding of the orbital architecture of the system when combined with Gaia astrometry, providing an ~25 yr time baseline.Peer reviewe
Statistical analysis of trigonometric parallaxes
The present project was initiated with two specific medium-term goals: first, to develop a novel approach, based on global modeling and maximum likelihood, to the study of databases of stellar data, with specific attention to the results to be obtained by the Hipparcos mission; and second, to apply and test the methodology developed to existing ground-based data. The long-term goal was of course to integrate the methodology and the ground-based data into a global study of the results of the Hipparcos mission, which were expected to be made available in 1995 or 1996. The closing of the project is due to the recent change of home institution of the PI, who has moved from the University of Illinois to Johns Hopkins University. As a consequence of this move, the three scientists involved in this project will be in close proximity, thereby hopefully improving their ability to collaborate and increasing the productivity of the project. Continued funding for the project has been requested from Johns Hopkins University. This report describes briefly the results obtained so far both on the technical aspect of software development and on the scientific side of applications to existing ground-based data. Significant progress has been made on both counts, with several papers published in (or submitted to) refereed journals and in conference proceedings. Because it is hoped that the project can be successfully continued with NASA support, the report of the progress in each area includes also an assessment of how the current results fit in the expected continuation of the project. Our results to date include: code development (essentially completed); a detailed study of the kinematics and dynamics of stars escaping from the Hyades cluster, relevant to the question of membership in the Hyades; a study of the kinematics and luminosity calibration of nearby dwarfs; an assessment of the quality of the photometry included in the Hipparcos Input Catalog; and two studies of properties of nearby clusters, including a moving-cluster determination of the distance to Praesepe. The bibliography includes three papers submitted to refereed journals, two of which have already been published, and four contributions to conference proceedings. Finally, the work so far has also provided a very good introduction to stellar dynamics and astrometry for an undergraduate student, with educational benefits that had not been foreseen in the original proposal
The Global sphere reconstruction (GSR) - Demonstrating an independent implementation of the astrometric core solution for Gaia
Context. The Gaia ESA mission will estimate the astrometric and physical data
of more than one billion objects, providing the largest and most precise
catalog of absolute astrometry in the history of Astronomy. The core of this
process, the so-called global sphere reconstruction, is represented by the
reduction of a subset of these objects which will be used to define the
celestial reference frame. As the Hipparcos mission showed, and as is inherent
to all kinds of absolute measurements, possible errors in the data reduction
can hardly be identified from the catalog, thus potentially introducing
systematic errors in all derived work. Aims. Following up on the lessons
learned from Hipparcos, our aim is thus to develop an independent sphere
reconstruction method that contributes to guarantee the quality of the
astrometric results without fully reproducing the main processing chain.
Methods. Indeed, given the unfeasibility of a complete replica of the data
reduction pipeline, an astrometric verification unit (AVU) was instituted by
the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC). One of its jobs is to
implement and operate an independent global sphere reconstruction (GSR),
parallel to the baseline one (AGIS, namely Astrometric Global Iterative
Solution) but limited to the primary stars and for validation purposes, to
compare the two results, and to report on any significant differences. Results.
Tests performed on simulated data show that GSR is able to reproduce at the
sub-as level the results of the AGIS demonstration run presented in
Lindegren et al. (2012). Conclusions. Further development is ongoing to improve
on the treatment of real data and on the software modules that compare the AGIS
and GSR solutions to identify possible discrepancies above the tolerance level
set by the accuracy of the Gaia catalog.Comment: Accepted for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysic
Some aspects of Relativistic Astrometry from within the Solar System
In this article we outline the structure of a general relativistic
astrometric model which has been developed to deduce the position and proper
motion of stars from 1-microarcsecond optical observations made by an
astrometric satellite orbiting around the Sun. The basic assumption of our
model is that the Solar System is the only source of gravity, hence we show how
we modeled the satellite observations in a many-body perturbative approach
limiting ourselves to the order of accuracy of . The microarcsecond
observing scenario outlined is that for the GAIA astrometric mission.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, accepted by Cel. Me
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